“One of the marvelous things about community is that it enables us to welcome and help people in a way we couldn't as individuals. When we pool our strength and share the work and responsibility, we can welcome many people, even those in deep distress, and perhaps help them find self-confidence and inner healing.”
―
Jean Vanier,
Community And Growth

“With good reason, love's messengers, Eros and Kama, are armed with bows and long-distance arrows. No being, god or mortal, can choose love. Love comes despite ourselves; and then, if we have not already done so, we have the task of becoming our selves so we may welcome love.”
―
Diane Wolkstein,
First Love Stories: From Isis and Osiris to Tristan and Iseult

“You can sit with us. You can live beside us.You can play your music. You can listen to mine.We can dance together.We can share our food. We can keep an eye on each other's kids. We can teach each other new languages.We can respect traditions.We can build new ones.You can ask for a cup of sugar. You can ask for directions.You can tell me when things are hard.You can tell me when beautiful things happen.We can listen to stories.We can disagree.We can agree. We can come to understandings.You can wear what you want.You can pray as you feel compelled to.You can love who you want.You can sit with us.”
―
Elizabeth Tambascio

“These flowers are starwort," she said. "Starwort means 'welcome.' By giving you a bouquet of starwort, I'm welcoming you to my home, to my life." She twirled buttery pasta on her fork and looked into my eyes without a glimmer of humor."They look like daisies to me," I said. "And I still think they're poisonous.""They aren't poisonous, and they aren't daisies. See how they only have five petals but it looks like they have ten? Each pair of petals is connected in the center." Picking up the small bouquet of flowers, I examined the little white bundle. The petals grew together before attaching to the stem, so that each petal was the shape of a heart."That's a characteristic of the genus 'Stellaria,'" Elizabeth went on, when she could see that I understood. "Daisy is a common name, and spans many different families, but the flowers we call daisies typically have more petals, and each petal grows separate from the others. It's important to know the difference or you may confuse the meaning. Daisy means 'innocence', which is a very different sentiment than 'welcome.”
―
Vanessa Diffenbaugh,
The Language of Flowers

“You are all welcome to come, or you can take this opportunity to go off on your own. Maybe you have families you want to be with? I don’t know, but this is the time to make your decision. Are you with us for the duration, or is this the end of the line?”
―
Jason Medina,
The Manhattanville Incident: An Undead Novel

“Love does not broadcast its arrival, it just creeps up and envelops your soul when you least expect it. It is up to you whether you welcome or fight it, but one thing is for sure...It will get you in the end...”
―
Virginia Alison

“And so (We) made our way home. That’s what you do when you run out of options: you go home. Ask a failed college student or a new mother whose partner disappears. Ask the parolee and the schizophrenic. No matter what home is. Even if home is a false hope. You just pick yourself up and go there. Then you sit down and wait to see what happens next.”
―
Adrian Barnes,
Nod